Court upholds Luos' tycoon kinship claims

The Taiwan High Court upheld the initial ruling of the District Court that the Luo siblings are the children of Wang Yung-ching (王永慶), also known as Y.C. Wang, and are entitled to part of his estate.

An appeal was filed to the High Court by Winston Wen-yang Wong (王文洋), after the District Court had ruled that Luo Xue-zhen (羅雪貞), Luo Wen-yuan (羅文源) and Luo Xhu-ying (羅雪映) are indeed the children of Wang, the founder of Formosa Plastics Corporation (台塑) who passed away in 2008 at the age of 91.

The Luo siblings claim that they are the children of Y.C. Wang and Lin Ming-zhu (林明珠). According to local reports, Wang and Lin separated after the birth of their third child. Lin later married a man by the name of Luo Jing-qi (羅景祺).

Winston Wong, Wang's eldest son, appealed the initial court ruling in the family assets dispute. The appeal was dismissed by the High Court, yesterday.

According to the High Court's press release, the appeal was dismissed on the grounds of sufficient evidence proving that Wang had provided financial support for the Luo siblings since birth, and that he had raised them; despite the lack of a DNA test, circumstantial evidences prove that the siblings are Wang's out-of-wedlock children.

The court also rejected the appellants' contention that the Luo siblings lost their rights to the Wang inheritance after they were adopted by Luo Jing-qi on the grounds that there is no documented proof of Wang or Lin authorizing the adoption.